Saturday, October 2, 2010

Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew's wife dies, do we grieve or rejoice

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Singapore's state controlled newspaper the Straits Times online edition of Oct 3, 2010 has the story "Mrs Lee dies, aged 89". Kwa Geok Choo, an ethnic Chinese Singaporean woman, the wife of the ethnic Chinese Singapore strongman Lee Kuan Yew who is himself 88 years of age and presently himself hospitalized for a chest infection in Singapore, in circumstances where it is anyone's guess when he too will die; has died herself at 5.40pm at her home.

She had suffered several strokes and has been completely immobilized and mute, or rather in a vegetative state since 2008, and has been taken care of in luxury, I presume at the Singapore taxpayers expense since then.

I am not a heartless brute and am aware and agree with the general principle that you try to be gracious about those who have died, and try to forget or forgive their transgressions as best you can, since it is only nice.

But I don't think that need for graciousness applies, to take an extreme example, in the death of Adolf Hitler or Adolf Eichmann, the man who was himself responsible for the death of millions of innocent people. In such a case, you call a rat, simply a rat.

I am not suggesting in the least that Mrs Kwa Geok Choo was in fact the same as Adolf Hitler or Adolf Eichmann, far from it. But I don't think, looking at her life and what she has done, the requirement for niceties that social graces demand apply to her.

And this is what I am going to say, knowing very well that I am going to invite the ire of thousands of PAP supporters and cronies who are doing very well in the island, this is what I am going to say to the late Kwa Geok Choo, the wife of the Singapore dictator Lee Kuan Yew, Good Riddance, and Thank God.

I am sure those who know Singapore would agree that this woman, even more than the dictator her husband himself, has been the principle architect of what Singapore is today, since the duo were at the helm from 1959 till today, the entire life span of modern Singapore. And let us ask ourselves what is modern Singapore.

1. It has a string of glass buildings along the waterfront. Good, but what good is it for Singaporeans. For your information, those glass buildings that sparkle in the noonday sun and nights, contain thousands of offices of multi national companies with their head quarters in New York, London and Frankfurt. The ordinary Singaporean who lives in his overcrowded cubicle government owned apartment in Toa Payoh and travels in the Singaporean subway neither has any business or interest in them. To him, they are merely white elephants.

2. What is a Singaporean? The average Singaporean is a timid soul who lives in fear of his surroundings and the dictator, devoid of all creativity courage or initiative. Why, because this woman and her husband the dictator has seen to it, that the only qualification to succeed in that tiny island is to crawl, prostrate and sing praises for him and the PAP.

These opportunists who themselves are devoid of any independent thinking rise to the top. Others who question and criticize are destroyed and ruined the rest of their lives. A man who has so suffered and continues to suffer at the hands of the dictator, perhaps under the orders of this woman who died, is Dr. Chee Soon Juan.

Like him thousands upon thousands have been persecuted and silenced, thereby effectively destroying an entire segment of society who would have otherwise been able to contribute a great deal for the betterment of the island. Thanks to the dictator and his late wife, such good people are effectively lost for Singapore.

3. Who are the successful men and women in Singapore? They are the opportunists who play along to the Lee Kuan Yew tune. These men and women who are themselves devoid of any principles of their own who would do anything for the right price. These include judges like Belinda Ang Saw Ean would is prepared to break every single rule of law in order to please her master Lee Kuan Yew as was the case in the 2008 defamation lawsuit of Lee Kuan Yew vs Dr. Chee Soon Juan. I was in the courtroom. I saw it myself.

Other than these opportunist Singaporeans who would willingly say that 2 and 2 is 5, there are the successful recently arrived foreigners in the island; bankers, fund managers and money launderers. They cater for the financial interests of foreign investors, mainly corrupt Communist Chinese, Burmese drug lords and Indonesian embezzlers. They can be seen wining and dining along the posh expensive Singapore River restaurants and pubs every night.

It is one law for them and another for ordinary Singaporeans. They can break the law anytime and get away with it, because of who they are, wealthy bankers. They daily get drunk and beat up policemen, behave in any disorderly manner and have accidents driving drunk. As they are effectively above the law, an unwritten rule, you don't read about their merrymaking exploits so often. Its wink wink nod nod as far as they are concerned. The thinking is they are bankers anyway and Singapore needs them. As far as the ordinary Singaporean Tan Ah Kow is concerned, he can take it or leave it.

4. Another shameful historical fact about this husband and wife team, is the brutality and shame of Singapore. Thousands of Singaporeans were arrested and jailed for decades merely because they were a threat to Lee Kuan Yew's political power. Chia Thye Poh was jailed for 31 years without trial, far longer than even Nelson Mandela. Lim Chin Siong and others were tortured and kept in solitary confinement for years thanks to this woman, the main advisor and confidant of the present day dictator.

Today Singapore is a place where the foreigners and Lee Kuan Yew supporters make a great living, while the ordinary Singaporean who lives in Toa Payoh is ignored to eke out a living the best he can.

And as people are forced to live in cramped high rise housing units, which are meticulously cleaned on the outside, the public is kept in the dark as to how the humans live within. They live in cramped overcrowded unhealthy conditions. Go take a look yourself in the one room flats in Bukit Merah and Pipit Road. I warn you, it is not a pretty sight.

5. And the legacy of this husband and wife team today are these, a completely politicized legal system where you know where you stand even before you step into the courtroom; Lee Kuan Yew and his friends win and you lose. There is no rule of law at all, where the law is used as a weapon to eliminate the opposition. There is no law, you can be thrown out of your flat. There is no law, you can be denied a taxi licence. There is no law, you may or may not get permanent residence. There is no law, some get citizenship and some don't.

6. Thousands of educated Singaporeans leave the island every year for settlement abroad. Singapore has the lowest birth rate in the world. And immigration from China is so high that local Singaporeans are already a minority in their own island state. As per capita of the population, Singapore has the highest rate of emigration (people leaving the country permanently) in the world.

7. And while all these bad things happen Lee Kuan Yew, his dead wife, each of his children and thousands of his personal friends pay themselves millions of dollars, which by the way, they call a salary. This is corruption but if you call it that in that island, you will be arrested. The dictator will have Belinda Ang Saw Ean or one of his other judges throw you in jail.

8. I have no doubt the vast majority of Singaporeans too would say the same thing now to that dead woman, Good Riddance. But you notice there is almost no criticism of her in the island. I guess you should know the answer to that now. The people are afraid to speak openly lest they are arrested. I guess you would be afraid to criticize Kim Jong Il in North Korea too.

9. But the greatest harm deliberately committed by this dead woman and her dictator husband is this. She has methodically destroyed the minds of the average Singaporean into thinking the best course in life is merely to follow orders, not to think and question orders. She has managed to destroy all creativity among Singaporeans ensuring that they will never compete with any Indian from India, any Australian or from anyone else from any free country. That is the shameful legacy she and her husband has left in Singapore, which was deliberately done for their own greed and avarice.

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

26 comments:

sadly, i have no knowledge about this woman, nor do i care. all i know is that she is one half of an evil duo.

however, what i can see is that they're both really sweet towards each other. when they do get interviewed, and talk about each other, there's a sparkle in their eyes.

not many couples i know can grow old like that.

however, i do find it weird that a couple of months before mrs lky passed away, lky starts to talk about the pain he's going thru with her illness and the sweet things he does everyday for the past few years. and suddenly she kicked the bucket without anyone knowing or any follow up reports eg, her illness has taken a turn for the worse etc.

i do know for a fact however that 3-4 yrs ago, during mrs lky birthday or was it some anniversary of theirs, lky booked 3 rooms, one for himself, and 2 on either side to ensure privacy, but they never stayed in it also. probably occupied it for a couple of hours before the event or something. i'm not sure. but was there such a need to book 3 rooms? >.> the largest ballroom was booked with a lot of vip guests. but yet, from what i hear, if my memory serves me correctly, she never did turn up or she turned up very briefly and went off. and she was never heard from again.

As she aged, Mrs Lee Kuan Yew began to look very much like my own dearest mum, a Chinese Peranakan given to the same fashion style. So emotionally, it is hard to hate her because on a gut level it would be like hating your own mother. But the logical, unsentimental side of me sends a very different, grimmer message.

She and Lee were a pair, she was his tower of strength, his unwavering cheerleader through thick and thin. She was his muse and party to every important decision. The part she played in manipulating Singapore history through the PAP years has been carefully kept hidden except for the one time in his memoir when he confessed that she advised him a merger with Malaysia would not work. It is extremely unlikely that someone of her intellect would have been content to simply sit at home like the dutiful wife rocking the cradle.

So the 50 years of merciless authoritarian rule, of dissidents being unceremoniously tortured and jailed without charge or trial, of political opponents being driven into exile or penury, of the Constitution and judiciary being cynically abused for personal gain, of the innocent being sent to the gallows because it was 'procedure', a list of misdeeds far too long to mention.....few of her husband's sociopathic policies could have been put forward without her knowledge and tacit nod of acceptance. To think otherwise would be to say Eva Peron had no influence on Juan Peron and Eva Braun, wife of Adolf Hitler, was a bimbo blissfully unaware that the air stank with the smell of roasting Jews.

'Eva' Kwa Geok Choo gave Lee Kuan Yew '61 years of happiness' he is reported to have said. But who paid the awful price for their happiness?

we are a step closer to a life without the 'great leader', with the passing of the 'mother of singapore'. Statistics show that such a close couple engaging in evil deeds means lky will be gone in 6 months to 3 years in the case of widower. Hope I do not need to wait long to break the evil spells of the lees and kick out the 'dear leader'Hh the ''.

If only MRS Lee Kuan Yew had advised her hubby to create a political substainable Singapore (read: democratic) and enjoy their retirement outside of Singapore politics (read: hands off the politics), perhaps there will be some respect for her.

To me, Kwa Geok Choo is the real mastermind behind the Lee clan, the hidden kingmaker, the matriarch, the co-conspirare who help to achieve her family fortune and power by turning Singapore into their own state corporation.

I just hope that with the pillar of Lee family gone, the rest of the family will go into inflighting. I expect Ho Ching to make preparation to take over the reign. LKY should watch out.

The next generation of Lees will be more corrupt, evil and greedy in order to hang on to what they have achieved (read: what they have plundered from Singaporeans).We have seen nothing yet!

"...and behind all this grand scheme of things is the Dragon Lady, Lee Kuan Yew's wife. She's the one with the overweening ambition for her son to take over. She is the one who has been advising Lee Kuan Yew what to do, how to do it, etc. Many, many people don't know this....the power behind the throne is the Dowager...the Dragon Lady, if you like..."

And depite their hardships, the Filipinos love their country while the Singaporeans hate theirs; if Philippines had a bit more no Filipino would leave their country and yet with the so called prospertiy of Singapore, noone wants to have any babies or get married and everyone wants to get out. And so did I.

Very soon there would be more Singaporeans outside Singapore than within. Filipinos are warm friendly and people with some courage. While Singaporeans look over their shoulder each time they speak.Guys, do you see the points.

Just wanted to say that I'm a young Singaporean who loves my country very much, and I disagree with your depiction of Singapore. I may not have a degree, but I do think it is rude to insult the dead. Furthermore, Singapore has changed alot in the past few years. The government is alot more open now, I believe. I have had the opportunity to engage in policy discussion with many ministers and MPs during dialogue sessions, and many other Singaporeans also do speak out and make voice their opinions about policy. In which other country would a 19-year-old youth have had so many opportunities to engage with the top leaders of his country?

Would you like to provide figures to show how local Singaporeans are the minority in their own country?

This is probably just one example of how you may have exaggerated some facts. Please do have some evidence, otherwise you may lose your credibility if you have not already done so. I'm sure that you understand that as a lawyer.

Yes it is true, at present, Singaporeans are not yet in minority. But we all know that it is fast approaching, given the unprecedented numbers leaving the island, the almost total lack of childbirth (Singapore has the lowest or almost lowest birth rate), marriage rates almost lowest in the world, and today one in three people are foreigners. This number is fast increasing with unprecedented large numbers of immigrants mainly from Communist China.

What more evidence do you want? At this rate, with every Singaporean trying to get out (except you), any moment now you will be a minority in your own island with your dictator.

If a person is not worthy of respect, then he is not worthy of respect, living or dead.

Mrs LKY failure to stop her husband's destructive and cruel acts have shown her to lack a conscience, and thus I do not believe she is deserving of respect.

You mention as a 19-year old, you have had the chance to discuss with ministers and MPs. You belong to a privileged minority. No MP or minister is going to spend time discussing policy with ordinary 19 year olds.

Even if said discussion did take place (e.g discussion in school), you need to make a distinction between your voice being heard and your voice being listened to. In Singapore, all decisions are undertaken by the government, and public dialogue is only sought after the decision has been made. The discussion you have been a part of, was just for show.

which shows that Singapore is currently 40% foreigners. When you factor in the number of foreigners convert to Singaporeans for the benefits, and add in a couple more years at prevailing trends, such an outcome is very likely.

I don't mean to get into politics or be rude and all, but really, why does it matter to you if Singaporeans are flocking to pay their last respects to Mrs Lee?? And I'm sure Singaporeans have minds of their own (even though they might not have complete freedom of speech), they are smart people and they should know who deserves their respect and who doesn't, is it for you to judge?

Yes it is for me to judge because if they are grieving because they were misled into thinking the dead woman was somehting else, it is for me to judge. They could be grieving because they are card carrying members of Lee Kuan Yew's fascist PAP party and grieving for his dead wife might bring rewards, even for you.

Second if they were grieving becasue they thought she was a Mother Theresa, it is wrong. There is extensive literature showing that she has blood on her hands, the blood of Chia Thye Poh who was unjustly imprisoned for 31 years for instance. If they had known this they may be rejoicing now instead.

Lastly it is questionable whether Singaporeans including you have a mind of your own. Firstly you choose to be anonymous. That is not an indication of a person whith a mind of his own. Second, the masses like you have been made to believe what the state controlled papers say. That is why they and you do what you do.

And as for being smart people, they are not, for the reasons above mentioned.

Singaporeans are so brain-washed by LKY's propaganda of triumph in making Singapore "from third world to first world", that they do not mind couped up in those "pigeon hole homes"! While the PM makes way more than Obama, lower and middle class citizens are struggling to make ends meet with the high cost of living. How can Singapore be a democratic republic when the voices of the citizens are being silenced under the same dictator since 1959?

mycroft, Kua Geok Choo was not a Chinese Perenakan. She is of recent Chinese emigre ancestry (the 'sin kek'). In fact, one of the reasons LKY married her was to distance himself from any Perenakan connections further.

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About Me

Determined to find the Truth.
Born Singapore, educated Winstedt School 2 (next to Monks Hill in Newton, Singapore) Raffles Institution, National Service, some travel in Europe, then law studies England, return to Singapore, practiced for 10 years, active Workers Party member, stood elections 1988 and 1991 in Singapore, was harassed and persecuted by Lee Kuan Yew for my political beliefs, left for USA, obtained asylum and admitted California State Bar, practice law ever since in Fremont California near San Francisco. Relinquished Singapore citizenship 2005 because I was not prepared to permit Lee Kuan Yew to unjustly retain my CPF funds if I remained Singapore Citizen. On principle, the only correct thing for me to do was to give it up, for my CPF funds. I am an American Citizen as of 2004.